Howard pledge on divorcees' access to children

Michael Howard: ordered review of family law

10:53AM BST 12 Jul 2004

The law should be changed to allow parents who divorce equal access to their children, Michael Howard, the Tory leader, has said.

Mr Howard said a change was vital to ensure that parents did not lose touch with their children after a divorce. He has asked Theresa May, the shadow secretary of state for the family, to carry out a review of the Children's Act.

Mr Howard said marriage was the best environment within which to bring up children, but recognised that "in the real world" marriages sometimes break down.

Mr Howard called for a law to incorporate a strong presumption in favour of equal rights for separated parents to influence the upbringing of their children which would also apply to the extended family.

"The absence of that presumption means parents with residence have found it far easier to obstruct the other parent's access to their children and their ability to have a say on how their children are to be brought up," he said.

"When families break down both parents and families should have access to their children if that is at all possible."

Mr Howard said that fathers frequently lost contact with their children after divorce. As a father himself, he knew just how devastating that could be, while children also benefited from a male influence.

But he denied that the campaign group Fathers 4 Justice had influenced him, saying he did not approve of its tactics.

Members of the group threw purple flour at Tony Blair during Prime Minister's Questions in May and yesterday its protesters disrupted Church of England ministers during a service at York Minster.